UK TIER 2 (GENERAL)-sponsorship visa

The Tier 2 (General) category is for foreign nationals who have been offered a skilled job by a UK employer to fill a gap in the workforce that cannot be filled by a UK settled worker.

ELIGIBILITY FOR TIER 2 (GENERAL)

To be eligible for Tier 2 (GENERAL) category visa you must have a job offer and a Certificate of Sponsorship from an organization that is a licensed sponsor in the United Kingdom. You can only have a job offer if you will not be displacing a suitable settled worker. This means that employers cannot offer a job to a non-settled worker if it means that a suitable settled worker will be turned down for the job or made redundant.

For your TIER 2 (General) application to be successful, you must score a total of 70 points and meet all the other requirements of the Immigration Rules.

Read below on how you can score points

ATTRIBUTES

You must score 50 points for having a Tier 2 (General) certificate of sponsorship, and for being paid an appropriate salary. These are known as your 'attributes'.

Points are available for your attributes as follows:

You can score 30 points if you have been assigned a certificate of sponsorship for one of the following:

• the job has an annual salary of £150,000 or more;
• the job is on the shortage occupation list;
• your sponsor has completed a resident labor market test;
• you are switching from a post-study category; or
• you want to extend your stay and continue working in the same job for the same employer

SALARY

You can score 20 points if you have a salary of more than GBP 20,000.

Your sponsor will confirm your salary details on your certificate of sponsorship. You do not need to send any other evidence of your salary.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ABILITY

You score 10 points if you can speak English to the required standard.

MAINTAINANCE ABILITY

You must score 10 points by showing that you have enough money to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom (amount to be shown for Tier 2 General is GBP 800 and should be at least 90 days old) and this will be the proof of your maintenance ability while you are in the UK.

Once you are sure you have enough points to apply under this category you must ensure to submit all the necessary documents with your application and may have to satisfy other immigration rules.

What Can I Do With This Visa ?

If the permission to enter the UK under Tier 2 (General) Visa category is granted, you can stay here for 3 years and 1 month. You may also get an extension of 2 years. Your family may apply to accompany you.

Once you have been in UK for 5 years, you may be able to apply permission to permanently settle there.

Categories: UK immigration